Tales of a Shifter (P5) The White Mountain

Chapter 55 - For A Brother

Chapter 55 - For A Brother

"Ezekiel!"

Mantilo woke up from sleep in a cold sweat, his sons blue eyes in his head, and his name jumping from his lips in sorrowful helplessness. The Clan head took a deep shuddering inhale, covered his face and gusted out a breath, Damp strands of his hair, clung to his nape and forehead.

It had been a long time since the winsome Shifter had awaken in such a state and he fought to reconcile the fears swirling in his mind with the unshakable confidence he had always donned as armor in the face of adversity.

And yet here he was shaken. Anxious. Lost.

Heart broken by the loss of his son.

Mantilo had only ever felt such turmoil one other time in his life. When Glen had been taken from his side by men who wished to break him. Destroy his mind. Send him to hell.

And perhaps Mantilo had gone to hell all those years ago, but the experience hadn't broken him, or destroyed him. It had tempered his soul.

But in this moment of uncertainty he felt just as worthless and broken as he had felt every minute, hours, which passed with Glen in the hands of his enemies. And now their enemies had his Son. And once more there was nothing Mantilo could do to stop it.

The impotence curdled in his guts.

After hours of staying up late into the night with the other Guardians and hashing out their nonexistent options, Mantilo had finally forced them all to break up for the night and return after each of them got some much needed rest. They had argued. Mantilo hadn't cared. He knew they all needed a break. Twice now Nate had nearly went to fists with Lander, which was a rare occurrence. Nate was always filled with levity, but the loss of Brandon and Ezekiel had pulled a pall of violent anger over the Wolf.

He knew that they had done all they could. So he had taken Glen and retired. He ordered Drin and Erin to stay at the Mansion, rather than make the travel back across the fields so late at night. The young Mates had agreed, and everyone had gone their separate ways. Heart and souls aching for the lost members of their family...both of them.

Up in their room, away from the others, Glen had dissolved into heartbroken tears. Her sorrow mirrored his own and the Mates feel to sleep, crying and praying together.

"My baby....I want him back Mantilo. I want them both back!" Glen sobbed, her large green eyes anguished and her body trembling in his powerful arms. He held her silently throughout.

Unable to weather her pain, Mantilo had left Glen slumbering, and quietly made his way into the Den. The home was silent and Mantilo's feet moved like silk across cotton as he paced the floor before the hearth.

Eventually he settled down in a recliner, and using every ounce of his self-control he forced his mind and body to relax. He forced himself not to think of all the terrifying things that had been done to Brandon at the hands of the Alchmists. He forced himself not to think about the fact that the Alchmists were sadistic, and powerful and despised Shifters above all else. For his sanity he did allow himself to even consider what they were doing to his son. He couldn't. He just let darkness claim him.

Until...something had pulled him from his sleep a few minutes later....a voice. A hand touching his shoulder in the darkness.

"Dad?" came Nates voice again. And Mantilo realized that it was his son who had been the one to awaken him.

The room was pitch dark, considering that all of the candles had been extinguished, and yet Nate, standing to his let, in a white cotton shirt and jeans, was easy to spot because moonlight still filtered between the curtains dancing by the cracked window across the room. His gaze, glowed with burning white lights in the darkness, Nates face slightly obscured by the dim lighting, seemed set with grim solemn determination.